Thai air frequent flyer blockout dates?

[onelilley 6]

I am a regular traveler on Thai Airways and almost have enough points for a return trip from Mel-Bkk.

 

I was thinking of purchasing a few more points to give me the total i need to make this free trip. I cannot travel this year again until Christmas and purchasing the last few points is my only option to have enough.

 

My question is, do airlines or Thai in particular block out dates that frequent flyer points can be used? I am asking this as Christmas is obviously the airlines busiest time as in Australia it is our main holiday period and airfares are always more expensive.

 

I have searched this topic but couldn't really find a general opinion.

 

I don't want to purchase the points and then not be able to fly when I want.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice/opinions.

 

onelilley.

[Tengotodo 52]

I am a regular traveler on Thai Airways and almost have enough points for a return trip from Mel-Bkk.

 

I was thinking of purchasing a few more points to give me the total i need to make this free trip. I cannot travel this year again until Christmas and purchasing the last few points is my only option to have enough.

 

My question is, do airlines or Thai in particular block out dates that frequent flyer points can be used? I am asking this as Christmas is obviously the airlines busiest time as in Australia it is our main holiday period and airfares are always more expensive.

 

I have searched this topic but couldn't really find a general opinion.

 

I don't want to purchase the points and then not be able to fly when I want.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice/opinions.

 

onelilley.

 

My airline of choice states "no black-out dates" as a preferred member using FF miles, but the # of available trips, especially around the peak season is VERY LIMITED. I used a Delta FF free trip last December/January, but I booked that almost 1 year in advance. You can probably "reserve" the flight (if it's available) and then have to pay with points or cash within 2 days (that's how mine worked). Bottom line is you MIGHT get lucky, but I doubt it during the holiday season. Try this website for expert advice

 

 

Flyer talk

[stevoman 2]

Onelilley,

Just a question if you don't mind,how many points do you require for your Mel-Bkk trip?

[onelilley 6]

Tengotodo,

 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

stevoman,

 

It costs 45,000 points in economy Mel-Bkk with Thai.

 

 

onelilley.

[jacko 8,815]

Of course they do, they are in the business to make money, so why should they give away seats when there is a high demand. They also reduce the cheaper discounted economy class seats. Even if the airline 'claims' not to have blackout dates, they likely offer much reduced proportions of 'points' or 'mileage' seats. The booking software would automatically take care of this whenever a high demand for paying customers is seen.

 

As you have enough mileage points for a return (nearly)....try booking a one way seat over the Christmas period. Try 2007, then 2008..etc etc. This will give you an idea.

 

I have found it a struggle to utilize my airmiles when I wanted to....you have to await times of struggle or strife....namely threats of strike action. These cause cancellations and open up availability. My free seat last year came after a disasterous period for a particular airline....I got one for this month too...can anyone guess the airline?

Edited March 12, 2007 by jacko

[onelilley 6]

Thanks Jacko,

 

The problem with Thai is you cannot access international reward flights via the internet, you have to call them.

 

I probably didn't explain that I did ring and could buy points no problem, they couldn't however tell me before i had the required 45,000 points for a return trip whether or not I would be able to get a seat when I wanted one.

 

Also, they only do return trips, so requesting a one way flight was useless.

 

I guess I will just take a punt, buy the points and see how i go. If I fail at getting my flights when I want to go I will just fly Jetstar at a saving of about $600au compared to Thai at that busy time of year, and use my points later next year, it would be nice to use them when prices are high instead of half the price as they are most other times of the year.

 

Once again thanks for your input.

 

onelilley.

[Dingo 0]

Bored this morning (what on earth do you do 07 in the morning in Pattaya) so had a look how busy they are on that route.

 

MEL-BKK doesn't look as bad as Europe-BKK.

Had a look at 18th and only W-class is gone. 22nd is wide open, cept for cheap Biz.

Return say 5th have V class in the morning, only Q at the one after midnight (as the cheapest).

I guess it will be just as hard to get an award flight with them as any other airline (did I say impossible).

I can't see Thai awards at the moment but it is quite amazing that you can get cheap ones at this stage. But still think it will be hopeless. Normally no point for an airline to hand out free trips when the almost can charge what they want to.

 

As linked below. Try a question at flyertalk, more than enough people with nuff miles to check for you.

[Owl_ 0]

I read a newspaper article that said that airlines are now making it more difficult for people who have large amounts of frequent flyer mileage by restricting their usage and lowering the number of available seat to them. Over time, since frequent flyer mileage have been offered, the number of people who have usable mileage has grown to the point that the airlines are losing money if they allow everyone to use their mileage a any given time. So they now are restricting the usage so that they don't lose as much money when people use their mileage.

 

It seem like the airlines have created their headaches with frequent flyer mileage to me!

[Dingo 0]

I read a newspaper article that said that airlines are now making it more difficult for people who have large amounts of frequent flyer mileage by restricting their usage and lowering the number of available seat to them. Over time, since frequent flyer mileage have been offered, the number of people who have usable mileage has grown to the point that the airlines are losing money if they allow everyone to use their mileage a any given time. So they now are restricting the usage so that they don't lose as much money when people use their mileage.

 

It seem like the airlines have created their headaches with frequent flyer mileage to me!

True, true.

I'm on Lufthansa and get saved with availability on other Star Alliance flighs. LH to BKK is totally forget it.

[onelilley 6]

I just thought i'd report on the above.

 

I was in the city of Melbourne yesterday and had luck purchasing 2,000 points which gave me the 45,000 points for a return trip mel-bkk, to my almost disbelief I could use my free flight for a christmas trip, which from Australia is never less than $1500au compared to about $900au all other times of the year. The lady in the office was extremely helpful and told me it is better to get in asap for a Christmas trip as there is no block out period but only minimum seats on some flights, I had no worries getting exactly the flights I wanted.

 

So I suggest stick with Thai, in my opinion they are a great airline second only to Singapore. They have plenty of direct flights from my part of the world and are very cheap most times of the year. They also seem to honor frequent miles at anytime unlike Qantas who are expensive and a very ordinary airline in my opinion.

 

onelilley.